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While this story turned out to be false, I do remember installing the multiplayer game launcher for Half Life 1 back in 1999/2000. After clicking “install”, a d

While this story turned out to be false, I do remember installing the multiplayer game launcher for Half Life 1 back in 1999/2000. After clicking “install”, a dialog popped up and said something, “If the installer says the program failed to install, do not worry. The program installed correctly.” I took a screenshot. I had it for years. I may have lost it, or maybe it’s sitting on some old computer at my parents, but I swear it’s true. Sure enough, the error message popped up, and the program was installed correctly. I told the story once on Twitter, and someone responded that this was known problem. It had something to do with Windows 97’s registry updates if I remember correctly.

bandrami 3y ago
> Windows 97 I think I've isolated the problem
- Maakuth 3y ago
  There was a time-unlocked beta version of Windows Memphis (98) making circles that was shoddily rebranded as Windows 97. Of course it's likelier that the parent mistyped either 95 or 98.
AnotherGoodName 3y ago
If you uninstalled half life 1's bundled Sierra Utilities it would remove 1 directory higher than where you installed it. Usually wiping out Program Files.
- lostlogin 3y ago
  Oh that’s great. Then what? You wrote a stern letter and posted it?
  - thih9 3y ago
    Sometimes you posted on a forum, like this: https://arstechnica.com/civis/threads/i-tried-to-uninstall-sierra-utilities-it-tried-to-uninstall-everything-else.479484/ https://arstechnica.com/civis/threads/i-tried-to-uninstall-s...
    - fragmede 3y ago
      I posted that this happened on a different thread but failed to find reference to it on the Internet. Thanks for digging up an reference, I knew I wasn't dreaming it up! https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37494372 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37494372
- AdmiralAsshat 3y ago
  Myth II had a similar uninstall bug: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_II:_Soulblighter#Uninstall_bug https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_II:_Soulblighter#Uninstal... It inspired a very early Penny-Arcade comic: https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/1999/01/06/myth-ii-uninstall https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/1999/01/06/myth-ii-uninst...

bandrami 3y ago

> Windows 97 I think I've isolated the problem

Maakuth 3y ago
There was a time-unlocked beta version of Windows Memphis (98) making circles that was shoddily rebranded as Windows 97. Of course it's likelier that the parent mistyped either 95 or 98.

AnotherGoodName 3y ago

If you uninstalled half life 1's bundled Sierra Utilities it would remove 1 directory higher than where you installed it. Usually wiping out Program Files.

lostlogin 3y ago
Oh that’s great. Then what? You wrote a stern letter and posted it?
- thih9 3y ago
  Sometimes you posted on a forum, like this: https://arstechnica.com/civis/threads/i-tried-to-uninstall-sierra-utilities-it-tried-to-uninstall-everything-else.479484/ https://arstechnica.com/civis/threads/i-tried-to-uninstall-s...
  - fragmede 3y ago
    I posted that this happened on a different thread but failed to find reference to it on the Internet. Thanks for digging up an reference, I knew I wasn't dreaming it up! https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37494372 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37494372
AdmiralAsshat 3y ago
Myth II had a similar uninstall bug: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_II:_Soulblighter#Uninstall_bug https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_II:_Soulblighter#Uninstal... It inspired a very early Penny-Arcade comic: https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/1999/01/06/myth-ii-uninstall https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/1999/01/06/myth-ii-uninst...